Overview & Design

A Ray of Light

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray stands out in a crowd of gargantuan smartphones like a ray of hope for those who want unrivaled hardware performance and yet, appreciate the form factor of feature phones. Most importantly, the Xperia Ray has all the ingredients that made the Arc attractive - an 8.1-megapixel camera, a display powered by the Mobile Bravia engine, Google's latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, and a single-core 1GHz processor.

The Xperia Ray is nothing short of a beauty. Chic, thin and minimalist in design, the phone sets out to attract customers who are looking to make the transition from feature phones to smartphones - not to mention it has a strong appeal to those of the fairer sex. Clearly, its form factor is also made with the intention for single-handed usage. As compact as it may be, the elongated phone gives it an odd proportion that makes it a tad too small for our liking. Nonetheless, it boasts of a solid and sturdy aluminum/plastic chassis. To top it off, the Ray spots a clear black glass front when it is switched off or on standby.